


Chapter 14: A Look at Things to Come

by PaleMoonlight



Series: A Captain Named Capitaine [14]
Category: Star Trek Online
Genre: Gen, Original Characters - Freeform, Star Trek Online Characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-03
Updated: 2019-09-03
Packaged: 2020-10-06 16:35:33
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20510117
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaleMoonlight/pseuds/PaleMoonlight
Summary: Chapter 14: A Look at Things to ComeCovering game mission: The Ultimate Klingon





	Chapter 14: A Look at Things to Come

"Lieutenant Shayna Duex reporting for duty, ma'am."

"Hello, Shayna, glad you could be here on such short notice. Have you been informed of our current mission?"

"Yes, Lieutenant-Commander. We are heading to the Korvat System, a research facility is being troubled by some pirates."

"That sums it up. Take this time to familiarize yourself with the ship and your officers."

"Thank you, ma'am, I will be in the Armory."

"You can call me 'Capitaine', Shayna."

A smile, a chuckle and a friendly, but rather forceful shove from Shayna let Capitaine knew she was going to fit in well here. Capitaine let the docking master know they were leaving and within minutes, they were already warping out of the system.

.....

"We're receiving a distress call from a Ferengi vessel. ... Its a while off, and its not in the direction to Korvat."

"A Ferengi ship? What's their status?"

"They say they've been attacked by a Borg vessel. They've been boarded and are in immediate danger."

"There've been no reports of Borg ships in this area.  
Any friendly ships in the area?"

"The USS Cygnet is close, but they'll arrive about twenty minutes later than us; we're the closest"

"Alright ... fine ...  
Notify the Cygnet, keep communications open; we might need help too.  
Anne, plot us a course, maximum speed.  
Capitaine to Shayna. We might be encountering the Borg, prepare yourself."

"Aye, Capitaine, we will be ready!"

Capitaine couldn't feel herself sitting, almost as if her sense were numb. Moving her fingers on the armrest, confirmed that she was afraid, very afraid. Her fingers trembled whenever she moved them, so to prevent others from seeing, Capitaine held herself down in her chair. The last time she had faced the Borg, they all had avoided being assimilated only by a matter of minutes. That timeliness had always inspired a small confidence in her, but not facing them again so soon, it reminded her of a fate unlike death.

Dropping out of warp, there was only one ship, a Ferengi ship that, otherwise, seemed in fine and working condition. As Capitaine stood to get a better view of the viewscreen, Elisa wasn't as interested in aesthetics.  
"Phaedriel, anything?"

"Nothing, First Officer. The ship seems undamaged and there are no other ships in range besides us and the USS Cygnet."

"Kovroht, are you detecting cloaked ships? Or anything onboard the Ferengi ship?"

"There's no emissions or warp trails, besides our own ... and ... their shields are up at full strength, we can't scan through them."

" ... the Ferengi would never joke around with the Borg ... 

Anne, bring us closer maybe ... "

"WE ARE THE BORG, SURRENDER YOUR SHIP AND PREPARE TO BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE."

"It's coming from the Ferengi ship, all channels! I'm detecting a change in power signatures ... that's not a *Ferengi* ship anymore."

"Fire to disable. Comms and engines too."

"i doubt there's any surviors to ... "

"Do it, Elisa!"

The Ferengi ship sat motionless in space. After a few easy hits, it's shields buckled and it could be seen that not all the power signatures onboard were in unison; they conflicted with each other and the ship seemed to start damaging itself and explosions could be seen along the hull. All power onboard the ship suddenly flickered off.  
"A few non-Borg lifesigns ... but not for long they are."

"All Ferengi?"

"Yeah, wait ... I think there's a Human on there too."

"Alright, ... let's go get them."

"Capitaine? Do you know how stupid that is?"

" ... Elisa ... "

" ... Yeah, I'm *so* coming with you."

.....

Shayna had wanted to fight the Borg in person, but with both Elisa and Capitaine leading a team, she was put in command of the ship instead. The ship wasn't Borg enough that it was unnavigable, and it was all fairly recent. Much to their dismay, all the life signs soon turned Borg except for one, the Human life sign. Capitaine hadn't had a good history with the Ferengi-species as a whole, there were sometimes exceptions, but they always seemed to prey on her naivete, still, she felt regret that she was unable to save them.

Entering what looked like a science lab, there was a large pod in the center. It was what looked like a isolation chamber combined with a dissection table. Opening the lid, it was a brunette with short, round hair and a familiar scar on her face. Seeing a Starfleet uniform, it took Capitaine a couple blinks to recognize the woman through the scars and surgeries; this was Mercedes McMary from the USS Miranda!

"Capitaine, are you seeing her too? Or am I getting nostalgic?"

"I see too, its Mercy."

Collecting a DNA sample and receiving a confirmation from Shayna and T'Vrell on the Epitaph, this was indeed Mercy. They all knew she couldn't be left here, but in her state it would take time to transport her. Taking another look around, it became obvious what happened; somehow the Ferengi caught Mercy's casket and extracted her nanites. Their containment failed and the nanties reactivated. This restarted the assimilation process and not only on Mercy but on them too.

"Ma'am, drones incoming!"

Hearing phaser fire outside the corridor, Without any frequency remodulators, they were ill-suited to deal with the Borg, each phaser only shot once or twice, and after several blasts, the drones became immune to their weapons as a whole. Barricading the door, they hurriedly disconnected the chamber and beamed it into the science lab onboard the Epitaph. There, Versallia, Kovroht, and Morek could work on reviving Mercy.

Once again confirming that there were no other non-Borg lifesigns, they retreated to the Epitaph. Shayna sarcastically greeted them back, but didn't waste time on destroying the assimilated Ferengi vessel.  
As the action subsided, the USS Cygnet warped in, a Thunderchild-class. 

"Lieutenant-Commander Capitaine, this the USS Cygnet. We received data on a *Borg vessel* ... Do you require assistance?"

"Thank you, captain. but we handled it."

"Sorry to have missed that, would've liked to help. I've never faced the Borg, except in simulations."

"Well, you don't happen to have several more immunosupport injectors? A member of my crew, might be needing more than I can provide."

"Gladly"

.....

With an extra couple cases of nanite injectors, Morek had training on how to administer them, but until now, had never seen them in real life. Mercy was fully restrained on a biobed. Her wrists were bound to prevent any nanotubes and her neck and shoulders were exposed and held in place for easier injections.

Along with Capitaine, Phaedriel and Elisa came to watch. To Phaedriel, Mercy was a friend and to some others she was the former commanding officer. As Morek repeatedly injected her as well as administering various radiation and micro-surgeries, the gray blackness in her skin faded back to her normal tone. Her medical scans revealed the injections didn't remove the nanites but moreso reprogrammed them or caused them to become subservient to her body's natural functions, rather than the other way around.  
Her eyes were open the whole time, but now started blinking and the first thing she saw was Morek putting a scanner in her face. Briefly trying to struggle her way out, Morek and Phaedriel explained where she was and what they were doing to her. Seeing Phaedriel seemed to calm her down, and once Morek was convinced Mercy posed no threat and was in-control of herself, he deactivated the restraints. 

Sitting up, Mercy played with her fingers and flexed her arms, seeing how much of herself she could still feel and touch. From the doorway came Shayna along with Anne and T'Vrell; the latter two remembering her from the USS Miranda.  
"DUEX!"

"Mercy! How glad to see you ... "

Without time for anybody to react, Mercy vaulted out of the biobed and lunged at Shayna. The two hit the ground and began intensely fighting, breaking wall panels and causing blood and bruises. Calming the nearby medical personal, Capitaine signaled security and grabbed a nearby rifle. Setting it to a light stun, Capitaine aimed it at Mercy first; 'she must be disoriented', Capitaine whispered to Phaedriel as she took up aim. But without hesitation, Phaedriel grabbed the barrel and deflected the shot harmlessly to the ground.

"Do not interfere, Lieutenant-Commander, I think this to be necessary."

Telling the security and medical crew to standby, Capitaine stared hard at Phaedriel, expecting either an explanation or for Shayna's and Mercy's fighting to stop on its own. Yet after a minute, their fighting had now become rather violent. Slowly but surely the two's kicks and rage filled screams slowly became laughter and friendly hits. Once the two calmed down and were laughing in each others' arms, Capitaine separated the two, wanting an explanation.

"We are old friends, Capitaine! Nothing but a little roughhousing to greet a lost friend!"

Pointing to Mercy's bleeding knuckles and broken ankle, and then to Shayna's split cheek and bruised elbows, Capitaine could hardly believe any type of friends would *greet* eachother in such a way. As Morek began patching up Shayna, he noted that they had really beaten each other up on the inside too. Phaedriel and T'Vrell took over the scans and began repairing the damage to Sick Bay; it was easily noticed that the two were already catching up on lost time.

.....

Arriving in the Korvat system, there were Gorn ships already in orbit. There wasn't any nearby nebulas or asteroids to hide their entrance. Hailing them was a bad idea, it gave them time to call for reinforcements but allowed T'Vrell time to pinpoint the station on the surface. These Gorn ships were newer and better armed, but lacked even the basic coordination of attack. Elisa was able to easily pick them off one by one with little damage to the Epitaph.

Once in range of the planet, Morek assured Capitaine that Shayna was still fit for duty. So, along with two teams of security personnel, Capitaine, Shayna, Phaedriel, and T'Vrell beamed to the surface. Meeting up with Shayna in the Transporter room, her knuckles were better but it looked as if she had personally stitched her cheek together. Capitaine tried not to stare but Shayna seemed to take it all as a complement. Per Elisa's and Mercy's request, Shayna and her teams would beam down first and clear the beam-in site.

Waiting for an all-clear sign, it appeared that their reservations were unnecessary this time. The Gorn and Klingons were only vaguely aware of what was happening in orbit.  
"I'm picking up Klingon and Gorn lifesigns, Capitaine, as well as signs of disruptor fire."

"I hope there are still some scientists to save."

"As soon as we find them, we can beam a medical team down."

"Prepare for combat, Phaedriel.  
Shayna, you take point, you're a better fighter than the rest of us.  
Capitaine to Elisa, have your strike program ready."

"Should be better this time, just send the coordinates, Capitaine."

The room was quiet but through the next door, foot steps could be heard. Shayna wasn't as discreet as Elisa or Razkii had been; to represent this, her custom rifle had extra cooling upgrades allowing longer and more frequent bursts and affixed was a bayonet on the front and a blade on the top. Blasting through the door, she and her team went in guns blazing, firing at everyone and everything. Once the smoke had cleared, Shayna took stock of the damage and the casualties.

Luckily for everyone, there was no friendly fire. Versallia overheard and actually made a point to speak up through their commbadges. Moving on through the facility, it was obvious they were looking for someone or something, the facility was torn up and they had even ripped up the walls and floor tiles looking for something. Moving through several rooms of large equipment and rooms dedicated o genetic research, Capitaine did feel the need to stop and pause, almost wanting to test some samples of herself. The constant reminder of Klingons and Gorn made that impossible, but making a mental note, she promised to speak to Versallia later. The final room had been sealed shut, T'Vrell and some technicians were unfusing the door. Shayna had wanted to blast it open either with explosives or a blast from Elisa's program, but with the threat of hostages, Capitaine disagreed. The door slowly shuddered open, and at first, the silence seemed like good news but it wasn't.

Captain Tchev and two of his swordmasters, held a dagger and batleth against several researchers' necks. They held no energy weapons while the rest of his forces were standing down, and so Capitaine urged her's to do the same. Tchev was an old Klingon, not one to be out in Federation space with his forces so unprepared. His voice was musky and as old as he was, but he was confident and knew what he had to do.

"Ahhh, Capitaine, the 'genetic wonder', herself! Have you come to save your creators?"

"I am not an augment, and I was not *created* here."

"Whatever you say, Capitaine. ... But *I* have your people and I want only information."

"And what is that?"

"I want full access to this station's computers. ... And your people will be returned, unharmed."

Taking a moment to think, Capitaine looked back to her officers for advice. Shayna seemed more focus on the impending battle, while the rest looked back to her for the decision; this was all up to her, and Capitaine didn't know what to do. Capitaine knew her orders were to rescue the hostages but she also knew that the Klingons couldn't be allowed anything, and on top of that, Capitaine didn't have the authorization to access the researcher's computers or the experience for creating imitation data.  
"Well, Capitaine?

"You won't escape here alive, Tchev!"

"But we won't go quietly; either we all leave with what we want, or *none of us do*. So, what do you say?"

"Let me talk to my crew, I don't have access to the computers here."

"You have *five minutes*, every minute after: someone dies. Starting with this annoying one." 

Holding up a doctor wearing a civilian uniform, he had a beard and mustache and a personality from a north african heritage. Capitaine thought he looked familiar, but she'd never seen him before in person.   
Whispering into her commbadge, Capitaine and Phaedriel worked with Zarva and Elisa to dematerialize the hostages with a transporter in conjunction with Elisa's orbital strike program. It would require *perfect* snychronization to work, but Zarva was confident she could do it. The only factor that couldn't be calculated was Tchev, Capitiane would have to stall him for ten minutes *after* the five minute allowance.

Trying to think of anything to do, it didn't help that Shayna kept reminding that Tchev was more than willing to die a bloody death; she could 'see it in his eyes'. Elisa brought up: dueling him to the death, *like the last few times*. Capitaine still wasn't comfortable using a rifle, yet alone a sword or batleth; but admiting it would buy them time, Capitaine swapped out her rifle for Shayna's.

Walking out with her officers, Capitaine brandished the rifle trying to assert her battle readiness. "I want a duel, Tchev. Fight me and we can settle this. My crew has their orders if you win."

"HA! That was pathetic; do not patronize me, Capitaine! I've heard of your strength and battles beforehand. I will not be coerced into a fight. I want the information, NOW! Or your people die."

What little preparation and self-confidence she had built up, was broken. Capitaine panicked and knew that Elisa's plan *needed* to work or they *would* all die. Stepping back and tossing the rifle aside, Capitaine nodded in agreement to Tchev.  
"Fine, Tchev ...   
Capitaine to Elisa, do it, now."

"Uhhh, ... can't, ... its not *ready*."

"NOW, Elisa, that's a direct order!"

Subtly stepping away from Tchev and his men, the room slowly started to shake. Tchev didn't seem to notice, but his men did. As they began to murmur, Capitaine turned her back and ran, following her officers as they all left through the door. Escaping just in time, Capitaine could feel the building shake as the Epitaph fired a prolonged phaser blast from orbit.

But it finished quickly, as Elisa had said. Frightened, Capitaine reentered the room, now with an smooth, smooth crater a few inches deep. There were some remains of computers but everything else, the furiture, the floor, and everybody in the blast range was disintegrated. The hostages were alive, some badly burned but were alive and safe. Not all the researchers were accounted for, but as was explained by the survivors, they weren't alive to be detected by the Epitaph's sensors. Finally with some peace and quiet, Morek beamed down with a medical team, sending the researchers up once their condition was stable. Out of the corner of her eye, Capitaine saw the doctor that Tchev described as the 'annoying one'. Clearing his throat, he wasted no time in making his point and attention known.

"Captain Capitaine? I didn't expect to run into you so soon."

"Uhmm ... hello?"

"I'm Doctor Julian Bashir. I must say, you have been *quite* a topic of interest in the medical community"

" ... I am?"

"Well, mainly those communities about genetic therapies and gene theories. And you know, I sent your school several messages some six or eight years ago, but they declined. I understand too, y'know. And actually, *I* used to be ... "

"Pardon, Doctor! We're kind'a on a tight schedule. Where is Chirurgeon P'Trell?"

Grateful that Shayna had interrupted what seemed to be a sermon from the doctor, Capitiane tried to redirect Bashir into answering Shayna. Suddenly stifling his enthusiasm, Bashir gestured to one of the dead researchers. Captain Tchev had him executed when he refused to cooperate. Bashir also explained he wasn't the first, and he didn't relent as his staff and co-researchers face brutal ends. Capitiane felt saddened that she had arrived too late to help, but as Bashir pointed out. Their arrival in orbit only hastened Tchev's plans, they would have died nevertheless; but it also didn't help that Bashir described in detail on how painful their process of death must have been. 

Cutting him short again, a communication came in from Elisa: the IKS Dugh, a Klingon battle cruiser, is entering the system: they needed her back on the Bridge. Capitaine didn't feel comfortable talking to doctor Bashir, but it was less comforting in that a warship was what pulled her away. A Vor'cha-Class, commanded by Captain K'mtak. Elisa had taken the liberty of attacking the Klingons without actual provocation, fortunately, their motives were already to battle. The cruiser already lay disabled, during which Capitaine was beamed up to the ship; K'mtak was demanding to speak to the captain of the Epitaph, not its First Officer. 

" ... You miserable to'ba! Fear the wrath of a Klingon Warrior and run while you can!"

Trying to appear serious and focused, Capitaine was still had her thoughts to the injured on the ground or their research that had so many similarities with herself.   
"Captain K'mtak, your ship is disabled, stand down, and you and your crew will be treated fairly."

"Never! Ramming speed!"

The helms officer wasn't as quick witted as Capitaine was used to, but they evaded in time. The Dugh collided with their shields and overloaded the generators, but harmlessly passed over. Elisa finished them off with the aft torpedo launcher.

.....

Reassessing he total damage to the Epitaph and the system, the damage was done and lives were lost, but nothing permanent. The few days and weeks, however, had caused months and years of time and data to be lost. Preparing to return, T'Vrell spoke up, eyeing her console and pointing through lines of data.

"Capitaine, I was able to scan the Dugh's computer before it was destroyed. I've found something interesting. There is are communiques ordering ships to bring biomimetic gel from the Korvat to a facility in the H'atoria System."

" 'H'atoria'? That's just over in Klingon space. We should report our findings before crossing the border.  
Phaedriel, open a channel to Admiral Quinn, I need to report this new finding."

"Channel open, ma'am."

There was no response, but Capitaine gave a brief overview and what she intended to do. But with no response on the channel, she repeated herself again. After several minutes Linnea answered, informing Capitaine that Admiral Quinn was in a meeting and unable to answer. Repeating herself a third time, Capitaine was getting a little tired, especially when noticing she had stuttered or mispronounced the same thing three times.

Linnea didn't have the authority to authorize the mission, but Capitaine and Elisa convinced her to speak favorably for them to Admiral Quinn. With a smile to and from Capitaine, the channel closed and the Epitaph warped to the H'atoria System.

H'atoria was a cold world, with ice and snow most of the year, yet the Klingons had a thriving colony here despite the obvious contradictions to their comfort. Being on the Klingon side of the border, there were patrols and defense placements that would easily outmatch a constitution-class cruiser. T'Vrell had discovered and maneuvered them into a micronebula, but it was more of an orbiting cloud of industrial waste than a natural occurance. But it worked. Once within scanning range, T'Vrell located the gel and facility it was stored at. This time beaming down with Phaedriel, Shayna, and a two teams of security personnel, their mission wasn't a rescue or to secure, but to eliminate the threat and return to Federation space as quickly as possible. 

Beaming down, the first thing Capitaine noticed was the freezing winds and immediately sinking up to her knees in snow. Making a quick check of everybody, they were fine except for the cold. Except Shayna, who seemed to feel at home in the frozen conditions. With visibility low, they snuck through the icy landscape and past some patrols into a Klingon research facility. The facility was small and not much warmer than outside. Reading a Human life sign, they headed towards it, hoping to find an answer and reason for the sudden Klingon interest in genetic engineering. 

Lurking through the facility, everyone started to notice it was empty. It was obviously staffed and lived in, but nobody was around. Hearing a low growl behind them immediately informed them of the dangers they had gotten themselves in.  
A gigantic Gorn, larger than a shuttle craft, lunged forward and picked up a security officer. Throwing him at the far wall and hearing him *crack* from the force. Reaching for another, his jaw was the size of his torso, and with a *crunch* bit off all four of his arms and legs, swallowing the rest. Phaser fire didn't seem to affect the Gorn, and hearing the crackling of claws running towards them, Capitaine knew she needed to do something stupid but amazing. Grabbing a grenade and Shayna's knife, Capitaine vaulted off the walls and lodged herself on the Gorn's back and climbed up to his head. Quickly and sloppily cutting a hole in his throat, Capitaine armed the grenade and jammed it down.

Jumping off, the Gorn started clawing at his chest before an explosion exploded the Gorn with a messy blast. Shakily handing back the knife, Shayna was impressed but concerned about how Capitaine obviously over-exerted herself. The others approaching were smaller but no less quick and no less violent and bloodthirsty. As Shayna pointed out, these Gorn wore little clothes, spoke only in growls and grunts, and didn't use any equipment, not even weapons. These were no longer reptilian beings but beasts and monsters of great strength and agility.

Not so much advancing, but running for their life, Capitaine, Shayna, Phaedriel and the two surviving security officers sealed themselves in the lab at the end of the hallway, while the rest were clawed down and bitten to shreds. Locking themselves in with the other Human lifesign, Capitaine hoped this wouldn't be some trap. Looking down upon them from a high series of railings and walkways stood Amar Singh, he seemed to be expecting them. Walking up to him, he stared at them, and watched every step as they approached him. Shayna never put done were rifle-sights, while Phaedriel and the rest gave Capitiane a wide-birth if any thing was to be done.

"Welcome, Capitaine, and your little Starfleet Officers too!"

" 'Welcome'? What are you doing here? What happened to those Gorn we encountered?"

"Oh those ... just a by-product. I'm so very thankfully close, Capitaine. You are an outlier, a statistical anomaly, but I can create a race more perfect than you; a race that will rule the galaxy!"

"Dr Singh ... "

Without time to finish her sentence, Dr Singh transported away, and in his place another gigantic Gorn stood towering above them. Shayna Grabbed Capitaine and pulled her to the ground as the Gorn swept the other two off their feet and down to the ground below. They might have survived but the force fields deactivated, releasing the crazy augmented Gorn that were waiting for them outside. Phaedriel handed Capitaine Shayna's knife and another grenade, and Shayna lifted her up so she could again climb up onto the gigantic Gorn. But this time it didn't work, being knocked to the ground, Capitaine dropped the grenade at the Gorn's feet; it was already armed and counting down. Capitaine fell and caught the railing of the next level down, while Shayna and Phaedriel jumped out of the way; the grenade detonated and the Gorn fell several levels below, relatively uninjured and only angered in its delay for a meal.

Their signals to the Epitaph were jammed and as the Gorn swarmed upwards, Shayna destroyed the walk way up to them, leaving them trapped several levels above the ground and above the Gorn, alive but only until the Gorn found a way to them. 

"Capitiane to Dr Singh, ... "

"Please, Capitaine. Do you really think I care what you say to me? You'll likely try to entrap me, trick me, or maybe even bluff your way to life. But I've more important things to worry about than an outlier."

"Doctor, ... "

"Ah yes, the adorable assistant. What have you, Phaedriel? You are a mystery even to me, but I do have much better things to be doing."

"Doctor, we've already scanned and uploaded your research to our ship in orbit ... "

"Do what you want, I have backups already ready."

" ... We will give that to Startfleet to be published, it will be under P'Trell's name. His last research work before his untimely death."

"What?! NO! ... You can't even dare to do that! Its a violation of ethics!"

" 'Ethics' ?"

"Silence, *outlier*! You don't even know yourself, yet alone this.   
But you, Phaedriel, ... *you win*, ... this time."

Capitaine thought she saw a small smile on Phaedriel's face. But it soon disappeared as a loud whistle emanated throughout the facility. Phaedriel clutched her ears and fell to her knees, and the Gorn did too. They clawed at each other to leave the room first.  
As the whistle stopped, Dr Singh appeared before them, upset, angry, but defeated.

"Ah, vulnerable to harmonic pitches ...   
Very well, *outlier*, your assistant, speaks well. You will not do what she has said *and* I will go into custody."

"Okay,   
Capitaine to Epitaph?"  
"Elisa, here. We lost you for a moment. What can I do for you?"

"Four to beam up."

"Only 'four' ?"

" ... Elisa ... "

" ... discipline ... discipline, ... my little *outlier*."

Looking at Dr Singh's smirking face, Capitaine soon felt the hum of the transporter and soon they were back onboard the Epitaph.

.....

Approaching Admiral Quinn's office, Capitaine walked shyly past Linnea and took a seat at the front of his desk. He was still looking through her reports, and Capitaine knew ahead of time that this debriefing was not going to be a pleasant one.  
"Let me get this straight, you couldn't transport the hostages out, so instead you dematerialized them into an energy form ... "

" ... one that was synchronous with a high-power phaser beam. They couldn't only exist like that for a microsecond, at most, without any permanent injuries, just enough time to vaporize the Klingons."

"Fascinating, I've heard of that technique for construction purposes, but for *living beings*, and then to *rematerialize* them! ... That was, Capitaine, a risky and reckless decision, but we're all very glad it worked."

"Thank you, Admiral. I am too."

"But I'm not done, Capitaine ... This business with Dr Amar Singh. This research he's done and subjects he's tested on, its disturbing and he is likely not the only one. Currently, he is being transported to a high security holding facility. But its also very probable that there was so much more that the Klingons already have. I don't think we've seen the last of his augments, Gorn or otherwise."

Leaving the Admiral's Office, Linnea greeted her. Enthusiastic as usual, Linnea also hinted at another promotion; she had never lied or joked too eagerly with her, but Capitaine didn't feel like she deserved another promotion so soon.  
Capitaine knew the hostages *could* have all been rescued but her abilities weren't ready. She knew in the back of her mind that her strength and dexterity allowed for professional combat, but she never gave it a second thought, until today. The *great* Dr Singh, actually considered her an augment, along with other Federation scientist. After another member of her crew seeing, and likely telling, of her abilities, Capitaine knew the expectations and responsibilies placed on her were about to become so much more. And to add, not only civilians, but the many members of her crew that died quickly or horribly under her command saddened her. Capitaine knew she couldn't do this alone, and risking the entriey of the bridge crew wasn't an option, perhaps there wea a more solider-esq or military ops style of Starfleet that she could request.

Capitiane walked to the Transporter Hub and back to her quarters, but she all the while kept glancing at her arms and hands. Self-conscious and a little intimidated by others, her body was slender and almost frail-looking and gentle. Her abilities obviously detracted from that, but it didn't help her confidence.

\----- END OF CHAPTER -----


End file.
